Improvement trends in fuel economy and auto emissions reductions, if any, have paled in comparison to the dramatic increase in the number of new and used vehicles on the road. According to the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), the total number of cars on the road increased in 2005 to over 238 million, up from 198 million in 1996. http://www.nada.org/NR/rdonlyres/93F45723-C66F-4437-BEAB-8F523221C8BA/0/NADA DATA 2007 Vehicles Operation Scrappage.pdf (accessed Sep. 19, 2007). This dramatic increase translates to 16.8% more driven vehicles that inevitably produce more harmful greenhouse gas emissions on any given day.
Individually, the world's auto manufacturers have made only questionable progress in contributing to the reduction of global warming emissions, even over a ten-year period. In 1996, a 1996 Ford Taurus driven 12,000 miles produced approximately 9,586 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. In comparison, a 2005 Ford Taurus driven 12,000 miles produced approximately 9,997 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. Terrapass.com, http://www.terrapass.com/road/carboncalc.php?yearselect=1995 (accessed Sep. 18, 2007). The net result over the ten-year period is not a decrease but an increase of carbon dioxide emissions, by approximately 4.1%. Comparing other known automobile makes and models, a Nissan Maxima produced approximately 9,586 and 9,782 pounds of carbon dioxide in 1996 and 2005, respectively, whereas a Volkswagen Jetta produced approximately 9,391 and 9,215 pounds of carbon dioxide in 1996 and 2005, respectively. This means that over a ten-year period, given the 1996 and 2005 model years, the Nissan Maxima actually increased its carbon dioxide emissions by 2.0%, while the Volkswagen Jetta decreased its carbon dioxide emissions by just 1.9%. Sampling makes and models from other auto manufacturers given the same 1996 and 2005 model years, the Chrysler Sebring and Toyota 4-Runner each actually increased their carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 3.9% and 7.4%, respectively, while the Subaru Legacy reduced its carbon dioxide emissions, but only by approximately 1.3%. Collectively, even over a ten-year period, auto manufacturers appear to have accomplished little in contributing to the net reduction of harmful global warming emissions.
The problem with auto manufacturers' erratic success in reducing combustion emissions over time is that drivers have substantially increased the use of their vehicles in their daily lives. According to a U.S. Department of Transportation press release, Americans drove nearly three trillion miles on United States highways in 2005. This figure—2,989,807,000,000 miles traveled—represents a 27.4 billion mile increase in travel over 2004. Over a twelve-year period from 1994 to 2005, this translates into about a 25 percent increase in miles traveled. Highway Statistics 2005, US Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/ohpi/hss/hsspubs.htm (accessed Sep. 18, 2007). Thus, the net impact on the global greenhouse effect is a significant increase of harmful gas emissions.
Given that even a ten-year period has brought little or no benefit to the reduction of harmful global emissions, there is an urgent need for an apparatus that can be fitted on environmentally unfriendly vehicles already in use to provide an instant emissions reduction of at least 1.5%. As the inevitable scarcity of refined fuels continues to impact our global economy and environment, and as experts continue to correlate emissions reduction performance with improved fuel economy, there is clearly a need for an assembly and process that can significantly improve combustion engine emissions.